Forever Too Far (Rosemary Beach #3)(3)

I started to disagree but Dean cut me off.

“I like her already. That’s exactly what you need to do. Your room is empty and you know it’s comfortable. Bring Blaire with you and that’ll give me a chance to get to know her and spend time with you as well. If you don’t Kiro may end up killing Nan.”

Blaire squeezed my shoulder. “I think we should go. Nan needs you.”

I tilted my head back and looked up at her. “Why do you care what Nan needs?” I asked in awe.

“Because you love her,” was her simple reply.

“This one’s a keeper. Now, enough about Nan. I wanna know when this baby is due and when the wedding is,” Dean said with a cheerful tone. Much different from the one he was using when he spoke about Nan.

Blaire looked over at my dad and smiled. “I’m twenty weeks pregnant. The baby isn’t due until mid-April. As for the wedding we were going to get married in two weeks but I don’t want this to be weighing on Rush. I’d rather put the wedding off and let him deal with family issues first. We haven’t mailed out invitations or anything. So changing the date isn’t a problem.”

“No. I’m not waiting any longer to change your last name,” I argued but Blaire put her finger over my lips.

“Shhh. I don’t want to argue about this. I can’t enjoy our wedding knowing you have family issues to deal with. Let’s enjoy Thanksgiving with our friends like we’d planned and then go to LA and deal with Nan. Once you have all that behind you then we can focus on our wedding.”

I didn’t want to wait. I hated the idea of her still being Blaire Wynn while our baby grew inside her. I wanted her to have my name and for the world to know I wanted her and my baby. But the determined gleam in her eyes told me I wasn’t going to win this argument.

“I just want you to be happy,” I finally replied.

Blaire kissed the tip of my nose. “I know you do. One of the many reasons I love you.”

“If you’re waiting until after Thanksgiving to head back to LA and deal with that sister of yours then so am I. Besides, it’s been years since I spent a Thanksgiving with you,” my dad announced.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“We would love to have you here, Mr. Finlay,” Blaire informed him, smiling brightly like she really meant it. Fuck. I was gonna have to let this happen.

“Just call me Dean, sweetheart. We’re already family.”

The pleased look in her eyes made me smile. Maybe having my dad around for Thanksgiving wouldn’t be so bad after all. If he could make Blaire smile then I’d deal with it.

BLAIRE

Talking about Thanksgiving had reminded me of my mother. This would be my first holiday without her. The more that sank in the harder it became to breathe. I forced a smile and made my excuses before rushing upstairs to take a shower. Rush needed some alone time with his dad anyway.

I let the tears I’d held back fall freely as I undressed and stepped into the shower. The warm water rained down over me as a sob broke free. Last year I had cooked our Thanksgiving meal and we had eaten it together in the dining room. No friends or family. Just the two of us. I’d cried that night too. Because deep down I’d known it was my last Thanksgiving with my mother. The memories of years gone by when Valerie and Dad had been there were bittersweet. My heart ached for all we’d lost. I hadn’t thought anything could hurt as badly but I knew now that I was wrong.

Facing the holidays without my mom was going to be hard. She loved Thanksgiving and Christmas. We would always start decorating the house for Christmas on Thanksgiving Day. Then we’d sit down and watch White Christmas together that evening while we ate leftover turkey and sweet potato casserole. It had been our tradition. Even after we lost Valerie and Dad had left us.

This year everything would be different. Knowing Rush would be with me and that I was starting a new family of my own eased the ache. I just wished my mother were here to see me this happy.

The door opened and I spun around to see Rush walk into the bathroom. He was frowning. He stopped and he studied me a moment before pulling his shirt off and throwing it onto the marble floor. Then he unsnapped his jeans and stepped out of them and his boxer briefs. I watched as he stepped into the shower.

“Why’re you crying?” he asked, cupping my face in his hands. I knew the shower had washed away my tears but my eyes must still be red.

I shook my head and smiled at him. I didn’t want to worry him with my emotions.

“I heard you when I opened the door to the bedroom. I need to know why, Blaire.”

I sighed and laid my head against his chest then wrapped my arms around his waist. I had lost a lot but God had made up for that by giving me Rush. I needed to remember just how blessed I really was. “The fact this is my first Thanksgiving without my mom kind of hit me,” I admitted.

Rush’s arms tightened around me. “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered into my hair as he held me.

“Me too. I wish you could have met her, I mean, now that you’re older. I wish she could’ve seen you all grown up.”

“I wish I could have to. I’m sure she was as perfect as you are.”

Smiling, I wanted to disagree. I was nowhere near as perfect as my mother. She was one of those special people that the world doesn’t see often.

“If my dad being here is going to be hard on you I’ll send him away. I want to make this a good memory for you. Anything I can do to help you just tell me and I’ll do it.”